New Zealand immigration stats from the OECD

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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently released its International Migration Outlook Report for 2013. The report contains subsidiary reports on all the 34 countries that make up the OECD including New Zealand.

New Zealand is one of the most isolated nations on earth. It is situated in the south-western Pacific Ocean. It is one of the smaller OECD countries with a population of 4.405m. It has sought to encourage immigration in recent years in large part because many native born New Zealanders leave the country as young people and do not return.

In 2011/12 62,000 foreigners became resident in New Zealand. Over the same period, 25,000 foreign people left New Zealand. In addition, 39,000 New Zealand citizens left, mostly to live in Australia. This meant that total emigration was slightly higher than total immigration into the Country and the population actually fell by 3,200 in 2011/12 because of migration out of the Country. In comparison in 2010/11, there was a net population gain of 3,900 due to immigration into New Zealand.

The three major countries of origin for new New Zealand permanent residents were
1. The United Kingdom 15%
2. China 13%
3. India 13%

Permanent migration figures

20102011
Work12,10010,200
Family29,40027,900
Humanitarian2,8002,700
Total48,50044,500

Temporary migration figures

20102011
Students74,10069,000
Working holiday 44,80045,100
Seasonal workers7,7007,800
Intra company transfer--
Other temporary 30,90026,800
Total 157,500 148,700


Top ten countries of origin

  1. United Kingdom
  2. China
  3. India
  4. Philippines
  5. Fiji
  6. South Africa
  7. Samoa
  8. Korea
  9. United States
  10. Tonga
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